Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Do You See Dead People?

In search of an obituary or death notice from the Washington Post? When you've checked the free archive, and you've searched in Newspapers by ProQuest but come up empty handed...now there's a NEW resource you can try: the Legacy Archive at the Washington Post. We just purchased a "deposit account" here, so we can get the obits which we used to get on microfilm.

Important: We pay for EACH download (or "activation" as they call it) so please exhaust the free sources first. And the Legacy Archive ONLY provides death notices that appeared online between 10/14/2001 and 5/19/2009.

SUPER IMPORTANT: Do not share or send or post anywhere the login details for our Legacy Archive account. This is only for staff to use.

Please see the Finding Obituaries User Tips page on SQ for details. It details not only the new access to the Post Legacy Archive but info about using Newspapers (ProQuest) or other free sites to verify the date an obit appeared and sometimes, even find it online for free. Bookmark this page -- it's good to know how to use it.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Literature Criticism Online


Yup--we got it--LCO. The online version of the lit crit your branch has been waiting for ! Gale actually digitzed the pages their of standard works, and APL got these titles:
  • Contemporary Literary Criticism: active authors or who died after 12/31/99
  • Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism: major authors of 1900-1999
  • Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism: major authors of 1800-1899
  • Poetry Criticism: poets of all eras
  • Short Story Criticism: major authors of short fiction
Now, using LCO is a bit different than the Literature Resource Center, because these are really an eBook format. See details here. Or, check out these tutorials if you want.
Basic Search – Guided Tour
Browse Authors, Works, and Topics – Guided Tour
Managing Results – Guided Tour

Now you have centuries of critiques on authors and their works, types of literature and regions--in the library, or for patrons and students at home. Licensing Note: Schoolteachers should be aware that it is permissible for a student to log in to LCO at a school computer, using their personal APL card. But it is NOT permissible for the teacher to log in with an APL card, for use by an entire classroom.

So go ahead and flip through a few electronic pages--try it out now

Thursday, August 06, 2009

GREENR

We have purchased GREENR, so you can get to it from the Research Portal. It is a "one-stop" research portal focused on the study of sustainability and the environment, pefect for students, researchers, and county staff. Watch a short Guided Tour on how to use it. Try it now!

GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources) has categories like energy systems, healthcare, food, climate change, population, international relations and economic development.

Content arrangement includes portals by issue, organization and country.Interactive maps, allowing users to browse by issue, country or region, as well as search local-level content.

GREENR offers:
  • News-updated daily
  • Videos
  • Unique commentaries
  • Primary source documents
  • Statistics
  • Contextual multimedia & refereed case studies.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Career Transitions is here!

This brand new resource will be available shortly to library patrons. Take a look now so you will be ready to help folks. Click on the FAQ link on the lower nav bar, and get a feel for what users might ask. Watch for 1-page handout coming to your branch soon. See the details page.

Go ahead and create your own user account (required) so you can explore!

What does it have?
  • Resume builder, job application wizard and a personal profile that stores a user's references, action plan and more
  • Assessment engine that identifies career interests and transferable skills
  • Career explorer, industry explorer and geography explorer
  • Ability to target specific careers, industries and locations to see projected growth
  • Interviewing tips & Networking help
  • Will locate low-cost Adult education distance learning classes to enhance employment prospects
  • Links to unemployment services and other social services
  • Comprehensive job search that incorporates a user's career, industry and location targets.
  • Apply for listed job vacancies within Career Transitions
How Is It Arranged? Choose one of these 5 main sections to begin:
1) Discover My Interests
2) Explore Careers
3) Prepare Resume
4) Improve My Chances
5) Find Jobs

How Do You Use It?
Career Transitions users must create a personal profile and login each time. Use your profile and the to build and save resumes, cover letters, and references. Return to your profile or resuman anytime-- in the library--or remotely--to track and update your progress in job searching, career exploration, and education planning.

Didn't finish? Remember to "Save as You Go"
Be sure to click Save option when creating a resume or taking an assessment! For privacy, Career Transitions. sessions will time out and unsaved work will be lost.

Tthe last values you entered in each step of Prepare Resume will be identified with your personal account and saved. You can continue where you left off the next time you use Career Transitions. If your resume is complete you can the same resume the next time you need it, or make edits and save the new version.

You can also copy and paste your resume into a website. In the Preview step within Prepare Resume, just save your resume in text format; then, copy the text and paste it into the website.

Any questions? Call or email Sally or Gwen.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Historical New York Times with Index Overview - Introduction

TA DA! We now get online access to the complete New York Times Index (1851–1993) in search results for the Historical NYT. Take a look at this overview/demo
Historical New York Times with Index -- Demo & Introduction
and get an idea of what's just been added to our Historical NYT access.

Tips:
You may search the specific fields of the index by searching the following fields on the advanced search (the ones that are asterisked): subject*, company/org*, creative work*, person*, location*. Most of these fields are available in the drop down menu next to each search row and in the “more search options” area at the bottom. You may search these fields in either area or in any combination.



Try this search: enter Amelia Earhart in the person field (either by selecting person* from the drop down menu next to the search row or using the person* field in the “more search options”). On the corresponding results page, select the abstract or citation for one of the results and you’ll see the search term highlighted in the person field of the indexing.

Did you notice? the Index dates of coverage are slightly different than the paper itself? It's not an evil plot, it's just that the printed idex was not produced past the early 90's.

Coverage for the Historical complete New York Times Index is 1851–1993
Coverage for the Historical NYT NEWSPAPER is currently: Sept 18,1851-Dec 31, 2005.

The end date is a rolling date, usually with one added every 12 months. AND, just to keep you on your toes...the Historical NYT, the WP and the WSJ all have different coverage dates--it's all up the to publisher.

S0 what's the fastest way to check historical coverage? Look at "Database Selected" at upper left, of the ProQuest screen. In fact, this is also true for "non-historical" newspapers we get from ProQuest.

let me know the most intesting thing YOU found, using the online index!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

OverDrive & iPods

Surprise! With the latest software updates, our 1100+ OverDrive
WMA eAudiobooks
become "instantly comptatible" for iPod and iPhone
users with a Windows PC.
(Sophistcated Mac owners can also install & partition Windows Media Player to manage the iPod downloads.)

MUST HAVE:

OverDrive Media Console version 3.2

iTunes v7.6.2.9 and QuickTime v7.4.5

Be SURE to update the OverDrive and iTunes software FIRST before you download a title to transfer to an Apple device! Otherwise you may be able to download the title, but the transfer probably won't work.

Once installed, users with Windows PCs can transfer most WMA format titles to their iPod® and other Apple® devices including the iPhone. (A few publishers have not joined this effort)

iPod Shuffle Caveat! Only the "3rd Generation" are compatible with the WMA titles. See iPod Shuffle devices

See our eCollection portal for details of OverDrive WMA downloads: http://visual.acornweb.org/databases/eCollection.asp

Navigate to eBooks > PC > OverDrive and click on Details

More cool new features: Star Ratings and Flexible Loan Periods!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

eCollection

Ta Da! Our "Extreme Makeover" of the eBooks and eAudiobooks pages are complete. From several links around the Library website, when they click on eBooks or eAudiobooks, you will now see (or be directed to) the new eCollection portal: http://visual.acornweb.org/databases/eCollection.asp

What's an eCollection Portal?
It's a single landing page for the Library's growing collection of non-print and downloadable resources. It's divided into "slots" by format: eAudiobooks, eBooks, Web Apps and Web Casts. Under each slot, the available options are presented in tabs.

Fast Clicks
If you know which "thingy" you want by name—jump on the left menu for direct access.

Not so sure? Skim the descriptions of each vendor and option, presented here by FORMAT. Each format "bubble" offers an image linked to direct access, plus a separate link for Details and for Questions.

Help me!
Also new is a Help page (From the left menu) with all the Frequently Asked Questions such as "What's an eBook." "Why can't I download a NetLibrary eBook."